Auditioning for Drama School (Tips for both sides of the table)
An audition for drama school resembles no other audition in the professional world. It’s probably the only time you’re ever going to be up for that most coveted of parts: yourself. In a window of fifteen to twenty-five minutes, you have to prove that you would benefit from three years of training.
On the other side of the table, the panel are performing the strangest convoluted casting process in existence. Because they’re not looking for a person who can give a great rendition of Ratty in Wind in the Willows or Rosalind in As You Like It. They’re looking for people who might be but aren’t quite yet actors. Who might one day make good actors.
As a drama school graduate, I get asked a lot about the audition process. And for years I tried to advise and offer tips. Now I’ve also spent time helping out as a runner for audition panels at my old drama school. You may even meet me! In which case, hello! I’ll be taking you from the waiting room to the audition room, giving you water and, if you want, you can do a speech at me.
So, if it helps you, here’s a few thoughts (please, these are vague observations from an actress very low down the food chain) for both sides of the table at a drama school audition.
AUDITIONEES: Don’t pretend to be boring
I’ve done a LOT of part-time work and being a runner for auditions is easily my favourite. Because people are interesting — teenagers, especially, are just the greatest. Go find a 17 year-old right now and tell them a joke, they’re the best. The panel and I have met people who were raised in South American pueblos, set up orphanages in a gap year, who work 10 hour night shifts to pay for theatre tickets and one guy who repaired knives for a living. People are inherently interesting. Do not forget that you are interesting. Because some of you are really good at pretending you’re not. When someone asks you (anybody, your teacher, a random in a club, the guy who sits outside Primark with a dog) “So what are you up to these days?” The answer “Oh, nothing much” happens to be incorrect. You’d think there were no wrong answers but oh my goodness, “Just working” is a wrong answer. Presumably you’re looking into drama school with a view to making a career in drama. So find your drama! Doing a charity bake sale? Amazing! Took part in a gymnastics tournament? Insane! Pierced your ears with a fork? Oh my God! I assure you, you have got it going on. And the panel would love to hear about it.
PANELLIST: Don’t expect a professional standard
If you are a panellist who’s been working in this thankless industry for twenty years, it’s so easy to want to scream WHY NO GO AWAY DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE HERE GET OUT into the bright-eyed faces of potential applicants. What’s also easy to do is forget that they don’t know how auditions work. I remember going to my first meeting with an agent after graduating and no one had told me how they’re meant to go. Keira Knightley’s agent, possibly the most powerful woman in the arts, was subjected to my bad jokes and awkward self-deprecating banter. I should’ve known better. Nineteen year-olds who have travelled up from Southampton at seven o’clock to make this audition, do not know whether to shake hands or start acting or where to stand. They don’t know better. Unless they’ve spent a childhood as Fléance in an RSC Macbeth, this is their equivalent of a university interview. So exasperation at someone’s naivety seems staggeringly ungenerous.
AUDITIONEES: Remember you love acting
You take acting deadly seriously, which is great. Wanting to be an actor, you probably had to put up with quite a few questions on why you don’t want to do something useful or proper. Because you know, it’s not a proper job unless you’re twelve rows deep in an Excel spreadsheet. Don’t forget you love acting though. Remember the first time you walked onstage. Remember when you went rogue during your cameo as the Angel Gabriel and made an audience laugh. There are some people who come into interviews who you’d think are there under duress. They don’t get animated talking about acting and when asked, “So why do you want to be an actor?” they frown and stare at their feet. Do not be Frowny McStare Down. Even Daniel Day-Lewis cracks a smile. Out of everyone in the world, the drama school panel know you are serious about your craft. What they’d love to see is how much joy it brings you.
PANELLIST: Be patient
Panellist, you’ve got an audition of your own this afternoon, you’re starving and your flatmate left a really shitty note on the fridge this morning. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean you get to rush through someone’s drama school audition. (I qualify this by saying I’ve never worked with anyone who’s done this, but I have 100% heard that it happens.) These applicants are probably on high alert, reading body language, tone of voice, every tiny detail. If you yawn, they notice. If you fall asleep, they will definitely notice. Yes there are pretty strict time constraints on you in order not to keep people waiting outside in a hallway. But people applying to drama school have paid upwards of £40 to be in the room. That doesn’t include the train fare, air fare, books and anxious breakfast they invested in too. If they need two minutes in order to get into character before a speech, that’s what they need. Please be patient.
AUDITIONEE: Go to the theatre
Remember when a film star life seemed glamorous and appealing rather than a horror-show of invaded privacy? There’s every chance the reason you wanted to be an actor was because you watched The Godfather or Bridesmaids. And hey, films are really easy to get hold of; they’re cheap, exciting and sociable. However, if you want to go to drama school and get a classical training (i.e. theatrical training) you gotta get into theatre, man. Sorry, I know it’s expensive but there are SO many SCHEMES. Check out the National, the RSC, the Globe, the Young Vic. Here’s a list compiled by WhatsOnStage: http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/cheap-theatre-tickets-under-26_34666.html Trust me, great theatre can change your life. No, I don’t mean Mamma Mia! Musicals are brilliant but unless your dream is to play nothing but Elphaba, go watch fringe shows about relationships and weird artsy stuff about depression. Don’t be one of those actors who only goes to shows for the press night drinks. Watching theatre will make you a better actor. And so when that question rises up like the Kraken in your interview, “What have you seen lately that you really enjoyed?” you will be bursting to talk about what you’ve seen.
PANELLIST: Be respectful
The drama school I work at is famously friendly at auditions. I’d say this is bare minimum. Panellists, respect goes both ways. Do not tell young people that their accent is off-putting. Do not pointedly ask why they have nose-piercings. There are some drama schools that apparently ring a bell if an applicant’s speech goes on too long. Quite frankly, GO EAT YOUR BELL. These applicants are not dogs doing a turn at Crufts. If people round the world travel to audition for a place at your drama school, do them the courtesy of hearing what they have to say. Do not make someone feel small.
AUDITIONEE: Learn your lines
As I say, respect goes both ways. Please learn your lines before you audition. Obviously, nerves get the better of us all. But wow if you think panels won’t notice if you massively paraphrase Thou Nature Art my Goddess. This is your time and theirs so try to use it wisely! If you know all the lightbulbs in your head will go out as soon as you’re up, bring a copy of your speech with you so someone can help you out. Anthony Hopkins famously reads scripts 100 times in order to memorise the lines. The advice Stephen Mangan gave the graduates of my year was: Learn your lines and don’t be a dick. It’s sterling guidance.
Bonus Round:
PANELLIST: Try to remember people’s names. Loads of people have wacky names (including me) so if you’re unsure, there’s no harm asking once. Failing that, you can always avoid using their name altogether and just substitute friendly endearments. “Lovely to meet you…buddy.” “Thanks so much for coming in….you.”
AUDITIONEE: Shakespeare names are usually straightforward, right, but sometimes they’re not. I guarantee that some crusty dude at Cambridge has decided how to say them ‘right.’ So look it up beforehand. Because if you start saying ‘Panderus’ as ‘Panda-bear’ and ‘Antipholus’ as ‘Anti-freeze’, it’ll be distracting.
The best auditions are not necessarily the ones where someone gets through to the next round. OK, scratch that, of course that’s the best outcome for everyone. But in terms of people getting something out of the day, mutual respect goes a long way. Drama school is expensive and insane. You’ll spend a lot of lessons in a room with 20 other people screaming and doing yoga poses, because that’s apparently what’s needed. So the first audition is an important place to work out whether that’s the right route for you. You never know, you might be a Carey Mulligan and manage perfectly fine without drama school. Or… you might get in. And the panel will be so pleased to see you.
